Abstract
Complementary therapies are frequently being used alongside conventional medicine in the care of the terminally ill patient. The diagnosis of cancer is not always as horrific as it seems in that people who have ‘incurable cancer’ actually ‘live’ with it. By accepting other therapies alongside acceptable medical treatments their quality of life can be greatly improved. There are many examples of complementary therapies. In this chapter we will highlight some of those most commonly used in which we, as aromatherapist, physiotherapist and nurse, have witnessed some beneficial results at Garden House Hospice where we all work.
We have learnt as a result of literally hundreds of experiments that there is a limit to the effectiveness of any given therapy but happily the effect of two or more therapies given in combination are cumulative.
(Melzack and Wall, 1988)
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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Cotterill, A., Ougham, J., Nunn, G. (1995). The place of complementary therapies. In: Robbins, J., Moscrop, J. (eds) Caring for the Dying Patient and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3376-8_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3376-8_19
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